The girl didn't remain in front of the broken stone for long.
After just a moment of feeling the reaction of the people around, she moved to another similar stone, breaking it in the exact same way.
When the first stone got broken, except the shock of the people around, nothing much happened.
But when the girl broke the second one, something shifted in the surroundings.
Everything was the same as before; the people stared at her in disbelief, the broken parts clattered to her feet, nobody approached her.
Just like with the first stone.
But something in the air just didn't feel right.
The girl couldn't name it.
She couldn't even feel it properly.
It was so subtle she nearly overlooked it.
But when she did notice it, she slowly closed her eyes to focus on her hearing.
There was something in the air other than the chatter of the people; the people (after seeing that nothing horrifying was happening) returned to what they were doing earlier.
No matter how much the girl strained her ears, she couldn't pinpoint what was the strange thing she was hearing.
She was sure it was something familiar, something she heard daily, but for some reason, at the moment, she couldn't recognize it.
Was the noise all around her disturbing her?
Was it blocking the sound she was trying to focus on?
The sound was actually very simple.
Slow, steady, and rhythmical footsteps were approaching her; unnoticed and blended into the ordinary noise of the street.
They stopped a few steps behind the girl, but their presence remained.
The people around naturally shifted around the source of the footsteps as if it was completely nonexistent and they couldn't feel or see it.
The girl sensed the presence a moment too late.
When she turned around to look, the person was mere centimeters away from her.
Though the footsteps had ceased a few steps away, leaving even the bare presence there, the person still moved; silently like a beast to stop dangerously close to the girl.
The girl's eyes trembled in surprise, sweeping over the figure.
Her pupils widened, nearly flared open, to take in more light.
The person she was seeing was taller than her, clearly an adult, wearing a cloak covering them from head to toe; the girl couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman.
"Why are you wrecking my place?" even from the voice the girl couldn't gauge anything about the person.
Even the basics were hidden from her.
But the voice was so calm and smooth; so soothing.
The girl had never heard anything like that.
The anger that had been visible in her expression just a few seconds ago was nearly instantly gone.
It was like the voice didn't allow unrest in its presence.
The girl didn't answer.
Something in her gaze even suggested that she disliked that her earlier anger had been so quickly suppressed.
But the person didn't seem to notice (maybe on purpose).
Instead, the person raised their hand and touched the girl's cheek gently; the hand was covered by a glove, but the girl could tell it was thin, but the muscles in it strong.
"Don't give me a silent treatment. Just answer my question."
Instead of sounding like two sentences, the voice made it sound like a melody meant to lull someone to sleep.
The girl reacted unexpectedly to that.
She raised her hand and slapped the hand away, a frown on her face.
"What a nasty hypocrite," her eyes flashed with something dark.
The moment she resorted to violence (even if very mild), the effects the voice was having on her disappeared.
Her face twisted with anger, eyes blazing with something dark.
It would take a fool to overlook her rage.
"So, you have the Power of Peace and Calm? Or Power of Manipulation and Seduction?" the girl asked with a cold smile.
"Is that what you have been using on me just now?" she added.
The cloaked person remained motionless, its hand that had been slapped away frozen in mid‑air.
Under the cloak, a pair of eyes could be seen as the figure finally moved a bit.
The eyes were fixated on the hand that had been slapped away, wide with astonishment.
Then, slowly, the gaze moved over to the girl, something in it deeply unsettling.
That wasn't the gaze of a sane human.
But (maybe because she didn't notice it, or maybe because she just didn't care) the girl raised her hand again.
Not seeming like she was holding back the least bit, she landed a slap on the side of the person's face.
The cloaked person's head snapped to the side, the pair of eyes fixated on the girl even in that moment.
At the same time, the person raised their own hand and touched the spot where the girl landed her strike.
"What? Surprised someone resisted the temptation of your voice?" the girl's voice was dripping with disgust.
From an outsider's eye, it would look like she was assaulting someone that calmly spoke to her, but in reality, nobody was watching what was going on.
Something about the cloaked person made it so nobody even noticed the two people in the middle of the street, though neither of them belonged there.
A twelve‑year‑old girl and a cloaked thin person.
That definitely didn't belong in the lawless area's most dangerous place.
But they were there and went completely unnoticed, though the tension would usually attract numerous onlookers.
Something seemed to snap in the cloaked person.
The glint in the pair of eyes changed.
After the girl's words, there was not only astonishment in the gaze but also something bestial.
But that bestiality didn't have the time to get out because another slap landed on the person's face.
This time, it caused the cloak to slip off the figure's head, revealing the features.
A young man with a striking face, captivating silver‑gray eyes and long black hair that went down under the coat.
And under his left eye was a black mark looking like a tear that had slipped out of his eyes.
Because of the two slaps the girl landed on his face (the left side of his face), his skin on that side was flushed red.
That made the tear mark appear even more prominent.
After the second strike, the man no longer hesitated.
His pupils narrowed sharply, his expression hardening.
Then, without a warning, he lunged.
The girl barely dodged the attack.
Because of the sudden blur of motion, she didn't notice that through the man's gloves, a set of sharp claws stabbed out.
If she hadn't dodged, he would have torn open her throat.
Claws like that; only those with the Power of Monsters and Beasts could have them.
Or, on the other hand, monsters or beasts that were old enough to have gained intelligence and ability to shapeshift.
But those very rarely took on human form and blended in with humans.
Much more often they stayed secluded somewhere, becoming the leaders of their kind.
The man lunged at the girl repetitively, always aiming for her throat.
He no longer said anything.
His expression was stone cold, muscles tight.
But still, even with the ruckus the two were causing, nobody noticed what was going on.
People kept conversing like the street was as peaceful and silent as ever.
In one of her dodges, the girl ended up crashing into a stall.
The feeble wood broke under her weight and the speed at which she hit it; but not a single gaze moved towards her.
The stall owner, an old man, lamented that he must have put it up badly for it to break like that.
Like he didn't notice the teenager that crashed so close to him.
After constantly dodging for a while, the girl stopped being passive in the fight.
She hadn't been retaliating the whole time.
To an experienced fighter, it could seem like foolishness.
She was wasting her energy.
But it was foolishness only if considering that she had the Limit Killer.
With that, she could disregard energy and the limits of her body.
Power of Death and Extinction surged around her and the overgrown moss between the street tiles started dying around her wherever she moved.
As she activated the ability, she still had to dodge the attacks.
But a moment later, she stopped.
Standing in place, she met the man head‑on.
Moving her hands up to block, her eyes widened as she finally noticed the claws the man possessed.
That didn't make her waver.
As the hands got close to her, fingers stretched out to be able to scratch and tear, the girl pressed her palms against the man's palms, her fingers splaying between the man's fingers.
She gripped his hands hard and used one of her legs to send a kick into his abdomen.
The man grunted, his silver eyes flaring.
It was clear that the claws weren't the full extent of his power.
The girl, still unaware of it, had gotten herself into quite the trouble.
Before she kicked the man, she still had a chance.
She could have knocked him out in a single move.
But unaware of that, and unaware of the danger of prolonging the fight, she caused a major problem for herself.